


the mosaic

by Asvan



Category: Disco Elysium (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Mild Language, Mind/Mood Altering Substances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22819750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asvan/pseuds/Asvan
Summary: harry is an addict. a week spent clean isn't going to magically fix that.
Relationships: Harry Du Bois & Kim Kitsuragi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	the mosaic

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Hey.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Hey!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - HEY!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY: You know what would be good right now? Some pyrholidon. Really good. Infuriatingly good. Like fucking awesome. That tingly-ting on your tongue, shapes just… contracting everywhere, the colours? Revachol fucking sucks, and you know it. Grey and brown and whatever boring shit colour you are currently looking at. Getting fucked up though? Not boring. At all.

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] – This would upset the Lieutenant.

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – Yes. You’ve been sober for 2 weeks already, it is important that you keep doing that. Now continue on with the investigation.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – But what if you find something cool? Something really awesome? A crucial lead? Then you can *reward* yourself a little. No harm in that, right? You’ll be a better detective if you feel good after solving cases! It’s called *motivation*!

YOU – You look over the photograph taken on the crime scene.

PHOTO OF A DEAD WOMAN – She lies slumped on the ground, neck bent at an odd angle, facing away from you. Her pale hair is clumped with blood at the back of her head. She is naked save for the heavy coat covering her almost completely.

RERCEPTION [Medium: Success] – It’s a fisherman’s coat. There is no logo.

INLAND EMPIRE – You should go talk to her. She’s down at the morgue. Maybe she knows something about the clothes?

New task: Talk to the dead woman.

YOU – Kim is away currently, wrapping up something in Precinct 41. Jean refuses to cooperate, so you are on your own here. For now, at least.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – This is your chance. The perfect chance. You are always with Kim. And now you’ve got *the whole day* to yourself! Get high.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Remember how nice it was?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Really nice. Really, really, REALLY nice. You miss it, don’t you? The thing is, you *don’t have to*! Get high. Do it! Do it! DO IT!

VOLITION [Formidable: Success] – Stop it. You are not using any substances today. Focus! Go and look at the body.

YOU – You go down into the basement, looking for the familiar green-painted doors. 

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] – They should repaint it again. The coating is peeling away.

YOU – You immediately see her as you enter the room. The shape, covered by a white sheet, holding *secrets*. You are alone here with her. You can ask all the questions you want.

THE DEAD WOMAN – As you take the sheet off, she finally shows her face to you – angular, sharp, determined. She reminds you of a swordfish. You wonder if she was into fencing - you could easily imagine her with a rapier.

THE DEAD WOMAN – You know what I was into? Drugs. But I don’t need them anymore. I just lie here on this cold metal table, waiting to be dissected.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – You hear that? She has free drugs! For you! Ask her where she keeps them.

VOLITION [Legendary: Failure] – Yes. Do that.

YOU – So, can I get some of those drugs? Since you don’t need them anymore?

THE DEAD WOMAN – Sure. I have some pyrholidon sewn into the lining of the coat. It’s not mine, but you can still have it. I doubt the owner will be back for it.

PERCEPTION [Medium: Failure] – What? You only hear the words “pyrholidon” and “lining”.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – GO. NOW. GET IT!

LOGIC [Easy: Success] – The coat must be in the evidence room.

New task: Go into the evidence room and find the drugs.

YOU – “I’ll be back soon!” – You say this to the woman as you are rushing out of the morgue.

COMPOSURE [Medium: Failure] – Your hands are shaking a little. Or they are shaking *a lot*, depending on who you ask. You are giddy with the excitement of finally *loosening up a little*. Two weeks is a long time to stay sober. And you are! Going to stay sober. No drinking!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Are you sure about that? Drinking is *cool*!

VOLITION [Formidable: Success] – No drinking.

YOU – You enter the evidence room.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Failure] – You think there are some forms you need to fill, but you can’t for the life of it remember what those forms *are*.

LOGIC [Medium: Success; +2 – Kim showed you earlier how evidence lockers work] – You locate the evidence for the current case. It’s not much – just the coat so far, thick fabric folded neatly in its bag.

YOU – You open the bag, nearly ripping it (Careful! You have to be more careful!) and get the coat out.

  1. PERCEPTION [Medium] – Try to feel around the lining and find the drugs.
  2. INTERFACING [Challenging] – Try to rip the lining open without damaging the coat too much.
  3. **Look for something to cut the coat with.**



YOU – You check several evidence lockers next to you, and find a pocket knife covered in long-dried blood. This will have to do.

  1. **PERCEPTION [Medium] – Try to feel around the lining and find the drugs.**
  2. INTERFACING [Challenging] – Try to rip the lining open without damaging the coat too much.



PERCEPTION [Medium: Success] – After a minute or so of frenzied patting you feel something give under your fingers – something small and hard.

  1. **INTERFACING [Challenging] – Try to rip the lining open without damaging the coat too much.**



INTERFACING [Challenging: Failure;] – Your hands are shaking like those of a late-stage alcoholic with a nervous tick. You jab the knife awkwardly into the fabric, tearing a long line through the coat. Flakes of dried blood are now covering everything. The coat is obviously ruined.

A VIAL OF PYRHOLIDON – Voila! A small blue-glass vial is in your hands.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – DOITDOITDOITDOITDOIT D O I T!!

YOU – You drink the contents. Nothing really changes.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Nice. Good. Now we wait.

YOU – You get back to the dead woman.

YOU – You pull up a chair and sit next to her. The reflective surfaces of the freezers show you your own distorted face. It is beginning.

YOU – The colour is seeping into the world, slowly, starting with your face. It is so red, and so blue, and so yellow – all accented and hard-lined like a supremacist painting.

YOU – You get up and come closer to the reflective door of a locker. It is so interesting to look at – your stubble has become a sea, individual hairs like beacons, waves of fractals crashing down between them.

YOU – Suddenly you can’t bear to look at your face anymore. You need to get out.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Impossible: Failure] – Wuh? Swirly-swirly, pretty light…

THE WORLD – The furies are at home in the mirror. You think you might be lost. You won’t get out on your own.

THE WORLD – But nobody is coming.

YOU - It’s hard to think. You think you need Kim, right here, right know. He knows what to do. And orange is a really pretty colour.

YOU – You decide not to look in the mirror anymore. The furies can do whatever they want in there. You will talk to the woman instead.

THE DEAD WOMAN – She still lies on her table, but she’s not still anymore. Her white sheet flows like an ocean, threatening to drown the world in pale fabric. Her eyes are closed, but she winks at you.

SHIVERS – Go? Need? Swirly…

YOU – You stumble out of the room. Now you have to get up the stairs.

THE STAIRS – An eternal staircase leading you up, up, up, back to fresh air and light. It should’ve ended by now. But it’s not.

YOU – You go, and go, and go, and it’s not ending. It’s so unfair! You are tired, and you start tearing up a little.

MORALE DAMAGED: -1

THE STAIRS – Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the climb is over.

YOU – You stop for a moment, trying to catch your breath. Everything looks so unfamiliar! You don’t really know where to go…

ORANGE SHAPE – You see something bright and warm and orange near the entrance to the station. Kim! It’s Kim! It’s so, so, so nice to see him! You feel warm and content and even the stupid staircase is no longer bothering you.

MORALE HEALED: +1

YOU – You walk briskly towards the orange shape – at least you try, but it’s really difficult with the world constantly changing position around you.

THE FLOOR TILES – You accidentally lower your eyes to the ground and you have to stop. The floor is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life. All the art, *all of it*, pales in comparison to the mosaic of fractals that is currently unfolding in front of your eyes. You could stay here for hours. You probably will.

YOU – You are suddenly jolted by a familiar voice. Kim is standing right next to you. Weird. But cool! Maybe he’s a cryptid?

YOU – “Hi Kim! Are you a cryptid?” – You say happily. It really is a nice colour he’s wearing. – I *love* your bomber!”

KIM – He looks at you, his expression unreadable (mostly because you are looking at his nose going through a wild journey across his face).

KIM – “Could you join me outside, detective?” – He puts a hand on your shoulder, steering you towards the exit.

YOU – You happily allow yourself to be steered.

YOU – As the cold spring air hits your face you feel rejuvenated. You love it! You love it so much! The trees are exceptionally weird, but *cool*. You are grateful to be outside. No mirrors here.

YOU – “Oh man, I can't,,, I can't get in there. She won't,,, tell me anything,,, anymore? She, she's like a mountain under the,,, under the *big water*. The snow is coming down, even though,,, look - no snow here, ha!”

YOU – Your head feels heavy and you are trying to tell Kim something important, but then you get distracted by a tree stump.

PERCEPTION – Your tongue tastes funny - pointy and acidic and ill-suited for talking.

YOU – The world is covered with a sleek motor oil sheen that is changing constantly in front of your eyes. Man, this stump is *the shit*.

YOU – Your nose starts bleeding a little. It's all cool though, no need to worry, people bleed all the time. They are basically bleed-machines. You try to touch the blood but you miss a little and poke yourself on the nose. It's a funny feeling. Tingly. Everything is charged with electricity and you are the most conductive person in the world!

KIM – “Detective? Are you all right? Look at me!” - Kim-shape starts *looming* over you.

YOU – There's no reason to loom, everything's fine! Absolutely fine! Finy-fine, the finest. Fun? Fine? Both good words. Except there is still that thing,,, the murder! You should go,,, do that now. You are a detective? You think. Yes.

YOU – The world sways a little, an elemental sea of patterns, and the sun is, for some reason, standing right next to you. Weird, right? The sun, right here, and it's not as hot as you think it would be? Today is a weird day. But a good one.

YOU – You feel a slap across your cheek. The conductive covering of your skin conducts *that* very well. You think you should maybe change your skin for something non-conductive, that would be better. You'd be the first electricity resistant detective ever!

KIM – "Detective! Are you all right!? Answer me!"

RHETORIC [What?: What?] - Tell him that, about the superconducting-supercolliding superdetective.

YOU – "Kim! Why are you the sun though? Let's go be supercollider detectives together! I wanted to be the first, but if it's the two of us it's cool too. I think. Your face is incredible right now. Also orange? Best colour."

KIM –“Let's go sit you down, detective” - You are once again being steered towards somewhere.

THE KINEEMA – You try to look everywhere at once, but then you see *her* and you think you've lost your eyesight forever and the only thing that will stay burned into your eyelids is The Machine. She is so impossibly blue, much bluer then the sky, and so, so sleek. Not a hard line on her (You remember those hard lines there, but now? She's an eel of perfect slippery smoothness). You think you get why Kim loves her that much. You'd like to kiss her, maybe, if Kim won't get jealous.

  1. Fall on your knees and pray to her.
  2. Kiss her fender gently.
  3. **Ask Kim if you can kiss her, then kiss her fender gently.**



YOU – “Kim! I love your car. And you also love your car? Can I kiss her a little bit? It’s platonic! Plutonian? Pliers pleading the plaid of,,, the plan. I think? What do you think? You are a very good person, I feel like I have to tell you that.”

YOU – You are suddenly *inside* The Machine? What happened? You don’t like it.

YOU – “I don’t like it!”

KIM – He is also inside with you? He is definitely a cryptid.

KIM – “Well, lieutenant double-yefreitor Du Bois, *I* don’t like that you are doing drugs during your work hours while there is an ongoing murder investigation.” – he sounds,,, dry? You feel like you need a drink suddenly.

YOU – “Can I have a drink?”

KIM – He silently hands you a bottle of water.

THE WATER – It sloshes there, contained and content with its existence.

YOU – You drink a little. It’s tasty. Water is good. Wasser ist gut.

YOU – You sit there, quite content with observing *the swirlies*. You say something to Kim from time to time but you don’t remember if he answers.

YOU – Gradually the feeling of contentment subsides and you feel a spike of anxiety jolt through your spine.

YOU – “Oh shit”, – you glance at Kim, who is sitting right next to you in the driver’s seat of the Kineema.

KIM – “Oh shit indeed, detective”, – he is not amused. Not in the slightest.

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] – He is disappointed in you.

VOLITION – I told you so!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – It was still worth it.

  1. **”I’m sorry”**
  2. “The dead woman made me do this!”
  3. Say nothing and wallow in self pity for 5 more hours.



YOU – “I’m sorry”, - you offer lamely. Kim’s face is an ancient mask; you don’t think the muscles there have moved in the last millennia.

KIM – He looks at you silently.

KIM – “If they don’t kick you out after this, they are either saints or so abysmally understaffed that keeping addicts on the payroll is an option.”

KIM – “The first thing is definitely not true, and the second changes depending on the addict.”

KIM – He is silent again. The time stretches, encapsulating you in a honey tomb of shame.

YOU – You feel like shit. Maybe you should cry a little?

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] – No. You *really* shouldn’t.

KIM – After what seems like an eternity he asks you: “Have you at least learned something about the victim during your… escapade? You mentioned her several times, but it was impossible to decipher what you meant.”

YOU – You perk up a little. He’s taking to you again!

YOU – “Not much. She was an addict, but the drugs were most likely not hers, as they were hidden in the coat. I have the package with me, maybe we could check it for fingerprints?”

YOU – “I’m sorry, Kim. I really am. I try my best, but sometimes there is just a vial of pyrholidon stashed in the evidence.”

YOU – You still feel like shit.

KIM – Something in his face moves, but you can’t quite read it.

KIM – “You should be more careful, detective. I’m not always here to dissuade you from making foolish decisions, and the Precinct staff already considers the ice you walk on to be pretty thin.”

KIM – “Let’s get to work, then. We have a new lead to check”, – he faces away from you, but you feel a little better anyway.

SHIVERS – Somewhere in the city a man is cursing violently, looking for something in his tiny apartment. He can’t seem to find it. Beads of sweat are forming on his forehead, the high is wearing off. He left his last dose in the coat – stupid, stupid, so stupid of him! A sentimentality that caused nothing but trouble.

VOLITION – Lets find him.


End file.
